On October 17th, Mundelein High School will be hosting its first-ever Career Expo! Individuals from seven different career pathways will be gathered in our Main Gym to educate our students about their respective professions. We have confirmed D75, D79 and D120 will participate in the event. It will be a day of insightful conversations, interesting dialogue, and lots of good vibes!

Thank you to everyone who completed the Superintendent Characteristics Survey and/or engaged in one of the many focus groups that were held across both districts in September. The application window closed on October 10th and BWP is diligently vetting the candidates for the committee members to interview.

Cathy Johnson

Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations

What are the benefits for the shared service model from your perspective?

This model offers an incredible opportunity to enhance the depth and quality of our services by creating access to team members adept at similar roles. It creates the opportunity for a district such as ours to have redundancy without an additional cost. For instance, having two staff members in Accounts Payable allows them to support each other during peak times and ensures uninterrupted service. Furthermore, the diverse experiences of our team members enable us to share different approaches and perspectives to continually improve our processes across both districts.

Can you describe a specific project or initiative that benefited from our shared services approach?

This past year several of our team members jumped in to review and refine our payroll processes. With a talented group skilled in SDS, payroll, budgeting, and process optimization, the team has worked incredibly hard to automate these systems. From establishing checks and balances to streamlining operations, they have worked hard to ensure the most accurate end product, dear to us all, payroll.

We have more to do, but we are well on our way. I hope you have seen the difference.

What is your outlook on shared services?

I continue to be incredibly excited about the shared services model. The depth of service that we can provide to our stakeholders - staff, students and taxpayers - coupled with reallocation of costs to support students and the improved efficiency of processes continues to energize me. With only one year in this adventure and so much accomplished, I look forward to the possibilities ahead!

It turns out we have a tie when it comes to our outdoor walks -

we all like to walk at Millennium Trail and take our dogs to the Lakewood Dog Exercise Area Loop!

If you haven't tried these locations, give them a go.

Now let's find out where we like to engage in fall festivities!